Rivas announces reelection bid for 2018

Supervisor Robert Rivas isn’t up for re-election until 2018, but he’s decided to announce his run early.

“Running a campaign is an expensive endeavor,” Rivas said Tuesday in announcing his reelection bid. “I’m making the commitment early to run again.”

Rivas will host a re-election launch party this Thursday, Feb. 8 at San Juan Oaks from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

“This is really the first fundraiser I’ve had since about 2011 or early 2012,” Rivas said.

Rivas said he’s made the commitment to focus on what he views as the most important issues facing the county: transportation, housing and the local library.

“We have a crisis with infrastructure, roads and finding the revenue source to fix them,” Rivas said. “I’m not just talking about filling potholes. We need to work with our state and federal representatives to get more resources to our county to thoroughly fix our roads. We need a plan. I’m looking forward to working with the board of supervisors and developing a plan with staff.”

Recent growth and development have alarmed a lot of people, Rivas said.

“It’s bringing our infrastructure problems to the forefront,” he said. “Affordable housing is associated with low income, but affordability impacts so many people beyond that like educators and people in public safety.”

Rivas said he invited a number of family and friends to his event.

“My re-election isn’t until June 2018, but I just thought it was a good time,” Rivas said. “Everyone is really interested in politics at all the levels of government. That’s my goal Thursday, to bring people together. I’m there to listen, to express the things that are important to me as a county supervisor.”